Kelley Leadership

Thank you to all the Kelley School of Business faculty, staff, and students that made this year’s Race for the Cure another success.  Each year the race starts right in the center of the IUPUI campus.  It was a bit chilly starting out, but once I was running the temperature was just right.  I’m proud to say I finished in under 28 minutes this year.  Not bad for little if any preparation.

Here is a picture of the brave souls walking and running for the cure.  I also want to recognize the many individuals that slept in for the cure.  In all we had 63 people on the Kelley team this year.

One of these years we will find the cure for cancer.

To see a video of parts of the race, click on the link below.

 http://www.indystar.com/VideoNetwork/1575440055001/2012-Susan-G-Komen-Race-for-the-Cure

A chocolate company has found a solution to the lack of credit from the banks. They borrow money and pay interest in Chocolate. The company pays 7% interest in chocolate.

http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/british-chocolate-maker-offers-sweet-deal
 

I enjoyed sharing this article with my Finance MBA class this last week.

In November, I had the privilege of traveling to Hanoi, Vietnam to discuss how IUPUI and Vietnam National University (VNU) can create collaborations to benefit both universities. Earlier in the year, we had briefly met with several representatives of VNU when they had visited IUPUI. It was a very good trip and I enjoyed meeting with the university faculty and leaders. I learned a great deal about Vietnam and its emerging economy. I also presented how students from Vietnam could take advantage of many of the Kelley School of Business Indianapolis programs, including our undergraduate program, Master of Science in accounting, and MBA degree for their students looking for opportunities to expand on their international business school programs

In addition to meeting with university representatives, I had the opportunity to tour a bit of the country. One of the most beautiful places in Vietnam is Halong Bay. It is located about 3 yours from Hanoi and we traveled to see Halong Bay when we had an open day. Halong Bay is one of the most beautiful areas I have had the fortune to visit http://www.halongbay-vietnam.com/ The limestone islands jut out of the ocean forming majestic mountains that are an amazing site. While visiting, we had a delicious meal of fresh seafood from the fishing village.

Folk tales tell that dragons descended from heaven to help the local people fend off invaders. The dragons liked the people so much that they stayed in Halong Bay as the mountains that we see jutting from the ocean. The Bay is also made famous by a cave, referred to as James Bond caver, where a scene from Tomorrow Never Dies was taped. 

One of the great things about being a professor at the Kelley School of Business is seeing dreams become reality. It is one of the primary reasons that many faculty members go into academia and for me it is one of the great rewards of our profession.

I was reminded of this by an email that Professor David Steele forwarded to me from one of his students. As Thanksgiving was just around the bend, I thought a short note of Thanks for seeing a dream put into reality would be great for a blog.

Erin Sheets is a student that enrolled in Professor Steele’s W212 Exploring Entrepreneurship programs course in spring 2011. In this course, students work on developing their Entrepreneurial dreams and learning how to make them a reality. Erin is one of the students putting her idea into reality. Professor Steele refers to this as the “Big Idea”. Erin writes:

I have continued tinkering with my Memoir Writing Business. I thought you may be interested in seeing how it's been coming along. I now have a website up and running- though it's still in the process of being edited- and I would love for you to check it out: http://www.narrativelegacies.net/ … I really enjoyed your class and all the help you gave me as I cycled through various "big ideas". 

Erin, I wish you the best in your entrepreneurial activity and thanks for letting me share your comments.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I always love Thanksgiving and some time off. This year is even more special, since all three of my children are at college this semester, so this was the first break to have them all back home.

We did something different this year. We ran as part of the Drum Stick Dash to help support Wheeler Mission. http://www.wmm.org/news/drumstick-dash.asp It is a 4.5 mile run. The run was great, even though I am feeling it now. It would be smarter to prepare for these types of events.

After the dash, we prepared Thanksgiving Day dinner. One of our family traditions is to each select a dish or two to prepare for the meal. Then we all get in the kitchen and begin the preparations. Lucky we have a big kitchen. I prepared sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, and an apple crisp. It was a great day.

Hope you each had a great Thanksgiving.

The end of the summer and the start of a new school year. All three of my children go off to college this year. One is returning and two will be freshman. Prior to their departure, we decided to do some kayaking as a farewell and a time to reconnect. There is a place just north of Martinsville were we rent kayaks and canoes to travel down the White River.

Kayaking is also great training for the Regatta on September 24, so I should be in great shape to race in the regatta.

The day was slightly overcast, but the cooler weather also means more activities from the wildlife in the area. The most notable were the eagles and the fish. On our trip we saw three bald eagles and one nest. It is great seeing the increased numbers of bald eagles in the area. In the water, we watched as fish occasionally jumped out of the water. As I slowly paddled down the river having a conversation with my daughter a 12-14 inch bass jumped out of the water and joined me in the kayak. My daughter laughed as she saw me lose my balance and fall in the river.

It was a great day on the river, good weather, great company and awesome wildlife.

I’m looking forward the Regatta again this year. Come join me and the rest of the Kelley School of Business team as we compete on the canal.

http://www.iupui.edu/~soar/regatta/

Welcome to the fall semester. We are looking forward to a great semester. This week we celebrate Back to Business with different activities on the second floor each day this week. Last week we welcomed over 90 new graduate accounting program students (Tuesday), over 70 new MBA students (Thursday), and over 300 undergraduate students (Sunday orientation).

I enjoy hearing about the dreams of each student as they embark on their journey with the Kelley School of Business. At the MBA program dinner, one of the students commented on how the new technology enhanced MBA cohort was going to make better use of her time while still providing the value of interacting with faculty and students in the classroom. Several asked questions about our Finance MBA classes and I spoke to several graduate accounting students and MBA students this week about the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA, www.cfainstitute.org ) program and how it can enhance their credentials and open interview opportunities for students interested in investment careers.

At the undergraduate orientation, I spoke with each of the club representatives representing students interested in finance degrees, accounting degrees, human resource degrees, and supply chain degrees as well as broader based organizations such as Kelley Indianapolis Cares (organizes service projects in the community), the Entrepreneurship club, and Delta Sigma Pi Fraternity. I give the same advice to new students each year, but this year it seemed even more important as two of my children will also be freshman at college. Get Involved!!!! It’s a great way to make networks, increase the amount of fun you have at college, and get involved in experiential education by applying what you learn in the classroom to the groups that you are involved in. You can see all the Kelley School of Business undergraduate organizations at   http://kelley.iupui.edu/undergrad/studentLife/organizations.cfm

Make it a great school year!

Congratulations to Aaron Liwanag, Matt Ray, Lindsay Slone, Mike Smith and Scott Todd who placed second in an international competition against nearly 500 other teams. They competed in the Capsim Simulation Experience, which pits both undergraduate and graduate student teams from around the world in a simulated business environment with the goal of turning struggling companies into successful profitable business over an 8 round (each round represents a year) simulation. 

The Capsim Simulation is part of the professional core in the Kelley School of Business. Students participate in the simulation during their course, J411 Analysis of Business Decisions. Todd Roberson was the instructor for the summer section of J411. J411 first became a part of the Kelley curriculum in 2007 with the goal of creating an experiential component to integrate the concepts students learn in management, human resources, marketing, finance, and operation courses. Our students have consistently performed well in the course in their international competition. 

For interviews from the students see

http://kelley.iupui.edu/ea/newsRoom/news.cfm?storyID=646

Congratulations to Ryan Burke and Matthew Southern for being named among the Top 10 Male Students at IUPUI during an awards ceremony on April 8.

The presentation of the Top 10 Male Awards was made by Pete Hunter, a 2010 graduate of Kelley Indianapolis and one of two Kelley students to be named to the Top 10 at last year's event.

The event is always great to be a part of.  At the Top 100 ceremony we recognize studnets that are not just top academically, but also have significant community and research while at IUPUI.  Congratulations Ryan and Matthew for this great recognition of your service and hard work.

Kelley MBA students helped Grameen see why Indianapolis was the right choice for its next branch.  Grameen America is a bank that offers microloans to the impoverished to start businesses.  "In a very short period of time, these students helped (Grameen) recognize the possibilities and need in Indianapolis," said Kim Saxton, clinical associate professor of marketing at Kelley Indianapolis. 

The students "produced one of the strongest market studies that we have seen and the template that (they) created for future studies will be implemented for additional market research in varying markets," wrote Katherine Rosenberg, vice president of strategic partnerships for Grameen America, in a letter thanking Saxton and the students.

For more details, see

Grameen is celebrating its U.S. presence today through a national screening of a new film, "To Catch a Dollar." More information is available at www.tocatchadollar.com.

Please join me in congratulating our nine Kelley students who were selected for the IUPUI Top 100.  We are very proud of their participation in our university community and local/international community. 

Ryan Burke

Latoya Highsaw

Assoumaou Mayaki

Eduardo Nieto

Nicholas Oberholtzer

Jessica Schuemann

Matthew Southern

Andrew Welling

Lucas Wolf

There were over 900 nominations this year, a record for the program.  The students who were selected were very strong in all three major scoring categories:

•              scholastic achievement

•              collegiate and co-curricular activities

•              civic/community service

Congratulations to the students, faculty and staff that make one of the best MBA programs in the country.

The Evening MBA Program at the Kelley School of Business Indianapolis maintained its status of one of the best programs in the country as judged recently by the U.S. News and World Report. The part-time program ranks 11^th in the country and 5^th overall among public universities.

The report ranks only the top 166 part-time MBA programs in the country. Other Indiana programs to be ranked included Purdue University (17), Butler University (105) and Ball State University (121).

The Evening MBA program boasts an enrollment of more than 400, and the students have an average of five years of work experience. The average GMAT score for the most recent students admitted to the program is 622.

Congratulations to all our IUPUI top 100 students and especially to the 9 students representing the Kelley School of Business.  This is a great accomplishment to have 9 Kelley students among the top 100 students at IUPUI. 

I am looking forward to celebrating with each of the students at the IUPUI Top 100 dinner on April 9.  for more information on the IUPUI top 100, see http://alumni.iupui.edu/top100.html

As you see the following students, please congratulate them on their accomplishments.

Chad Beauchamp

Steven Huaibao  Ding

Evan  Fruits

Erskine   Hunter III

Katie  Klco

Katrina   McCrory

Alicia Raines

Stephen  Short

Jenna   Wood 

April 17 is going to be a great day.  My two boys and our exchange student will be joining the Kelley Indianapolis team to Race for the Cure.  It will be a challenge to see who wins the race, my two boys run distance in track and run cross country.  I just try to keep up, less successfully each year.  Come join as as part of Race for the Cure.  It will be a great day

Please register as a member of the IUPUI- Kelley School of Business team, which can be found here.  Race day details, including start times, can be found here.  You may also donate money to support one of our Kelley student participants. 

This year, we decided to take the group downtown to see the lighting of the Christmas tree at Monument Circle.  We have lived in Indianapolis for 12 years and this is the first year we have gone to the lighting celebration.

We stopped by the Mall to do a bit of shopping prior to the tree lighting.  It was a good evening for the lighting with clear skies and no wind.  We were surprised at the number of people who we knew that we also met at the lighting ceremony.  The music and entertainment started at 6 pm, but with the number of people in attendance we found it hard to get close to the stage.  It was great spending time with around 75,000 to 100,000 other people who were downtown to celebrate the tree lighting.  The lighting was just a bit before 8 pm.

Picture4of monument before lighting

Picture5of monument after lighting

Merry Christmas

Tree decorating is one of our important Thanksgiving week celebrations.  On Friday we went out to a tree farm to select our tree.  Our family has always selected a live Christmas tree.  Watching the kids hunt through the selection of trees to find the best tree possible and debating which tree we should choose is always great fun.  Friday was brisk, so once the tree is selected, warming up by the fire prior to leaving and having hot chocolate upon our return home is also a fun part of our celebration. 

Once we get the tree home, we trim the bottom branches and work hard to get the tree to stand straight.  Our group put lights on the tree and loads of ornaments.   

Picture2of us selecting our tree

Picture3of the decorated tree

I hope you have a blessed Christmas season.

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving is a time for family and friends.

This year was a celebration with friends.  In addition to our family of 5, we had quite a worldwide group.  My daughter returned from Purdue, not too far away.  Our exchange student from two years ago was able to return to celebrate with us.  Her along with our current exchange student gave us connections to South Korea.  She brought along her roommate from Britain.  We also had a two close family of friends join us from our church.  It was great having such a good group of friends join us to celebrate Thanksgiving. 

Picture1of our Thanksgiving Meal

We enjoyed working together to prepare the meal.  My wife clearly worked the hardest, taking on the task of getting up at 6 am to get the Turkey prepared.  I worked on the easier side - yams and beans.  The kids helped with corn potatoes and the sides.  We viewed a couple of the parades and of course, watched a bit of football in the afternoon.  That evening we taught some of our guests how to play a card game called Jokers.

I hope each of you had a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Last evening, I had a great surprise when I got done teaching classes Monday evening.  My family was waiting to surprise me in the parking garage.  They had just finished their high school soccer game.  Not just any soccer game, but their conference tournament.  The game was on the near north side, so stopping by IUPUI was on their way home.   

After the first half, the opponents were up 1 to 0. In the second half one of their team mates scored a goal, tying the game at 1-1.  The game ended normal play in a tie.  They then went into a 7 minute overtime -- no goals.  Another 7 minute overtime -- NO GOALS.  Finally a shoot-out.  In the shoot-out each coach picks 5 players to shoot against the goalie of the opposing team.  Both of my boys were selected for our team.  The pressure was clearly on.  In the shoot-out the opposing team made 4 of their 5 goals.  Our team made 5 of their 5 goals. 

The victory was made even sweeter, by the fact that this is the first time in 9 years our team beat this school in soccer.  This is also the first time Lutheran High School has been part of a conference.  Lutheran is a high school of about 250 total students.  Prior to this Lutheran played many games with a random set of opponents, but never as part of a conference.  So the soccer team has the proud distinction of being the first team at Lutheran High School to win a conference tournament.

Even neater for me is that fact that they wanted to share this accomplishment with me immediately after their game.  We had an awesome night hearing the boys recount their stories of the game and having supper at 11 pm at the Steak and Shake near our house.

Congratulations to the Lutheran High Soccer team which put in a tremendous team effort to win the first Conference title in Lutheran High School History.